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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27412597">A Strange Breed</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/AVernedi/pseuds/AVernedi'>AVernedi</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Ensemble Cast, Families of Choice, Gen, POV Alternating, Pack Dynamics</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 22:35:23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>17,287</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27412597</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/AVernedi/pseuds/AVernedi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p></p><blockquote>
  <p> Suga's smile widened. The wolves filed past him, each in their own way presenting their cheek for him to kiss. Noya tapped the side of his face mischievously, and Suga leaned down, planting his lips with a smack. Next was Ryuu who stood at proud attention, forcing Suga onto his tiptoes. Shouyou jumped for it, seeming to hang in the air in that particular way of his, so that Suga managed to kiss him while his feet were off the ground. Tadashi leaned down to accommodate their height difference, and Suga ruffled his hair affectionately as he pecked his cheek. Then Kageyama approached and the atmosphere shifted slightly. Kageyama was still stiff about receiving physical affection from the rest of the pack, even from Suga, the pack's second-in-command. It broke Daichi's heart just a little, because Kageyama always gave the impression that he didn't know if he could hope to be included.</p>
</blockquote>A story about pack life for the Karasuno werewolves, as they try to fit their newest member into their ranks.
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Azumane Asahi/Nishinoya Yuu, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>159</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Part One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>The werewolf lore in this story is a mish-mash of a lot of different YA concepts I've read so I hope you like it! If you want a visual of what the werewolves look like, picture something along the lines of the Van Helsing ones.<br/>Recommended song pairing for this song: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNtnALcr5JI">Family by Mother Mother</a></p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ryuu and Noya were wrestling in the living room. Daichi barely tolerated this at the best of times, but he was especially not in the mood today. Today was close to the full moon.</p><p>"Take it outside you two!" he called in the tone that meant he expected to be obeyed<em>. </em> His wrist snapped against the cutting board, chopping the cucumber a little more vindictively.</p><p>There was a heavy <em> thump </em> followed by a barrage of cursing, then—</p><p>"Going, Dad!" Noya called.</p><p>"Sorry, Dad!" Ryuu called. Daichi rolled his eyes against the nickname. It was so persistent despite the fact he was only a year older.</p><p>There was a <em> thud </em>from the second floor and the kitchen ceiling shook. "And take Shouyou with you!" </p><p>Predictably, a moment later, there came the sounds of footsteps cascading down the stairs. "Daichi-san!" Shouyou sang out. "Did you call me?" </p><p>"Was that you making that noise?"</p><p>Shouyou's gaze dropped. He fidgeted nervously. "It was an accident..."</p><p>Daichi sighed through his nose. He couldn't blame his wolves for where they were in the lunar cycle. "Ryuu and Noya went out to burn off steam. Why don't you go with them." It didn't come out as a question.</p><p>"Join us, young grasshopper," Ryuu called from where he was getting his shoes on by the front door. "We're gonna throw the frisbee around." Said frisbee was already in his hand. He held it up as he spoke.</p><p>Shouyou perked, eyes honing in on the disc. It was so easy to imagine canine ears stiffening at attention. Daichi sighed through his nose again. <em> Glad to know we really are just big dogs. </em> Beside him, Tadashi snickered. </p><p>"Tackle frisbee?" Shouyou's eyes were shining as he took a step closer.</p><p>"But of course." Ryuu opened the front door with a grin. A blast of brisk fall air came in from outside but neither he nor Noya had bothered to put on coats. They were all running hot this week.</p><p>"Nothing but the finest for Mama Hinata's baby boy," Noya said, slipping out the door with a grin. </p><p>As the three of them tumbled out of the house, Daichi became aware of the newest member of the pack watching them go. "Kageyama," he said, offering the younger man a smile. "Do you want to go too?"</p><p>Kageyama stiffened. He didn't seem to trust himself to speak, but the way his eye widened minutely as he looked at Daichi gave his answer.</p><p>"Finish setting the table, then you can go."</p><p>Kageyama's eyes went even wider. He nodded, once, quickly. "Thank you, Daichi-san!" And he whirled off to finish his task, so hasty that it would have been concerning if he were one ounce less graceful than he had shown himself to be so far.</p><p>Just because fair was fair, Daichi cast an eye over Tadashi as well. "Did <em> you </em> want go too?" though he had a feeling he knew the answer.</p><p>Tadashi hummed. "I'm good, Daichi-san!" He held up the bowl where was mixing the eggs together. "Does this look okay to you?"</p><p>The Karasuno pack lived together in a three-story house at the outskirts of the city. There were nine of them altogether, which might have been considered small even sixty years ago, but these days that was far more average, especially in urban areas. The house was one they rented from a man named Ukai, an older pack leader in the area.</p><p>Magic had evolved far enough these days that werewolves didn't have to shift on the full moon anymore if they had an inhibitor. Inhibitors could be tokens that a wolf carried around with them or a tattoo in the appropriate runes. Ryuu and Noya both had tattoos of the runes plus several more that they liked to claim were all magically necessary in some way. </p><p>"Even the popsicle?" Kei had once asked, in that scathingly detached tone of his.</p><p>"Tsukki." Noya had clapped him on the arm. "The popsicle is the <em> most important one. </em>"</p><p>It was Daichi, Tadashi, and Kageyama's turn to make dinner this week. It was a light week to be cooking because tomorrow and on the full moon itself, Daichi was going to order an unholy amount of barbecue. His wolves would be craving meat. They were going to put down at plastic tablecloth that they would literally tape to the dining room table, and between feasts it was going to be someone's turn to hose it down in the backyard. (Asahi's, according to one of the whiteboard charts on the side of the fridge.)</p><p>Everyone had different ways of dealing with the restless energy and aggression that came with the waxing moon. Wrestling was a common one, and they all participated in that. For Ryuu and Noya and Shouyou it was the real poison of choice, as evidenced by the brush burns they were all going to come in with at dinner. Daichi and Asahi liked to lift weights, Suga and Tadashi went for long runs, Kei did yoga or pilates or something, and as for Kageyama... </p><p>It was only Kageyama's second month with them. Last month he'd seemed to want to try all their methods of burning energy, and with the exception of Kei and his pilates, it had all gone well for him. Honestly, the pilates would have gone better if Kei and Kageyama could communicate in a way that was even remotely effective. </p><p>"Dai?" Suga's voice came from the stairs. Daichi looked up to see his second-in-command-slash-boyfriend standing on the last step. "Can I talk to you?"</p><p>Wordlessly, Daichi set his knife down and wiped his hands on his apron. Approaching Suga, he took in the tightness around the eyes that belied the easy, open expression on his face. Suga handed him his own cell phone, which he had left upstairs earlier. Looking down at the screen, he saw the preview of a text message.</p><p>From: Iwaizumi (Aoba Johsai)<br/><em>We need to talk about...</em></p><p>The rest of the words were cut off. Daichi took a deep breath, settling an iron grip on himself before he moved to unlock his phone. He was conscious of Tadashi still in the kitchen. Pack leaders usually had the strongest sense of smell but that didn't mean the other members wouldn't be able to smell his distress, or more palpably, his anger. </p><p>From: Iwaizumi (Aoba Johsai)<br/><em>We need to talk about someone coming to pick up the rest of Kageyama's things.</em></p><p>Daichi took another deep breath. It was a pity this message had to come <em> now </em> when they were all brimming with aggression. He felt Suga raise his hands to cup the sides of his neck, stroking softly with his thumbs. Coming from anyone else, the gesture would have been profoundly, even violently unwelcome, but under Suga's touch he felt his shoulders relax. </p><p>From: Daichi<br/><em>Agreed. </em><em><br/></em> <em>Let's schedule a call sometime next week to talk about it.</em></p><p>There. That would give them a few days to process what was going to happen with the rest of the pack.  </p><p>Handing his phone back to Suga, Daichi took in the look on his partner's face. <em> You okay? </em> Suga's expression asked.</p><p><em> Yeah. </em> He brought his hands up to where Suga's were still on either side of his neck. Suga used his advantage of being one step up to press a kiss to Daichi's forehead. And then to nuzzle.</p><p>His breath ghosted across Daichi's cheek as he asked, "Dinner almost ready?" </p><p>"Yeah. Everything ready for tonight?" The pack was going out. The full moon was on a Monday this month, meaning they couldn't get away the actual night in question. Still, running under the almost-full moon was always preferable to sweating it out in the city, their inhibitors working overtime.</p><p>Suga settled back on his feet, his hands falling back by his sides. "Yep! Everyone's finished packing. Oh, and Asahi texted. He's on his way home."</p><p>"Good to know." Exchanging one last look with Suga, Daichi headed back into the kitchen.</p><p>"Daichi-san," Tadashi said. "The meat is ready. I'm starting the eggs."</p><p>"Nice work." Daichi checked the three rice cookers on the counter before returning to the cucumbers. They were eating Korean food tonight, lettuce wraps. The meal had the advantage of having meat as well as plenty of vegetables, and more importantly, being supplemented with a lot of rice. It was hard to stop feeling hungry during full moons, but carbs helped.</p><p>Twenty minutes later, he sent Tadashi out to call the others in, and as he was heading out the front door, Asahi was coming in. </p><p>"Hi Asahi-san!" </p><p>"Oh, hello." The two of them exchanged a quick hug before Tadashi was out the door. Werewolves were naturally handsy and in a healthy pack, physical affection was a constant factor. Once Asahi had taken off his boots, he came to stand beside Daichi and drop his forehead on his shoulder. </p><p>"Long day?" Daichi brought his hand up to cup the back of Asahi's neck. </p><p>Asahi nodded into his shoulder. "Yachi-san double-booked her 4:00 o' clock. I had to do her fitting with the other model."</p><p>"I was wondering why you were late." Asahi was usually on the train from Sendai at 4:00. </p><p>Asahi just hummed at this, a deep, rumbly sound that Daichi felt as well as heard. He squeezed a little at the nape of Asahi's hair. "Is there anything I can help with?" Asahi asked, shoulders relaxing.</p><p>"The rice cookers should be done. Can you open them and then stick the paddles in?"</p><p>As Asahi popped the lids the smell of garlic filled the kitchen, along with three bursts of steam. "Mm!" Suga said from where he was coming down the stairs. "It smells so good in here." Kei was right behind him, silent as a shadow. </p><p>Asahi was in the middle of greeting both of them when the front door burst open and the rest of the pack burst in. "Asahi-saaan!" Noya called, spotting him.  Then, "Suga-san! You finish your work?" Suga was currently completing his master's degree in education, and spent a lot his time when he wasn't on campus holed up in his home office. </p><p>"All done for today," Suga confirmed brightly. His smile widened as his wolves filed past him, each in their own way presenting their cheek for a kiss. Noya tapped the side of his face mischievously, and Suga leaned down, planting his lips with a smack. Next was Ryuu who stood at proud attention, forcing Suga onto his tiptoes. Shouyou jumped for it, seeming to hang in the air in that particular way of his, so that Suga managed to kiss him while his feet were off the ground. Tadashi leaned down to accommodate their height difference, and Suga ruffled his hair affectionately as he pecked his cheek. Then Kageyama approached and the atmosphere shifted slightly. Kageyama was still stiff about receiving physical affection from the rest of the pack, even from Suga, the pack second. It broke Daichi's heart just a little, because Kageyama always gave the impression that he didn't know if he could hope to be included. </p><p>Kageyama and Suga just looked at each other now, Suga's posture easy and open, waiting for a sign it was okay to touch him. Kageyama was rigid, but he didn't smell distressed. Just awkward. It was like a dozen small interactions they'd seen from him so far, wanting affection, but unsure how to ask for it.</p><p>Slowly, slowly, Kageyama turned his head and Daichi felt a cold hand grip his stomach. This wasn't Ryuu's cheeky tip of the jaw, this was Kageyama baring his throat in the classic posture of submission. The room stilled.</p><p>It wasn't strictly <em>wrong</em> for Kageyama to offer Suga his throat—Suga was a pack authority after all. But it was too much, leagues too much for what this casual interaction was supposed to be. It was like prostrating oneself before an older sibling.</p><p>But of course, it was Suga. Sweet Suga, clever Suga. He reached up with gentle hands, coaxing Kageyama to face him again, neck no longer bared, before he stood on his toes and pressed a kiss to Kageyama's cheek. "Did you have a good time outside?" he asked, tone perfectly casual.</p><p>The room relaxed as one. Daichi heard Noya's voice calling to Asahi, stirring up the conversation again, smoothing the awkward moment away. Daichi only heard them with half an ear, still fixed on the scene by the door. </p><p>Kageyama nodded, his usual stiff nod, and then something seemed to occur to him and his expression turned to genuine irritation. "Yes, but Hinata was cheating."</p><p>"Hey!" At the sound of his name, Shouyou turned. "Was not! It's not my fault I'm faster than you."</p><p>"I didn't know about that last shortcut!"</p><p>"How could you not know? Everyone knows about it!"</p><p>"He's still new here," Suga interjected mildly. </p><p>"He's been here <em> two months</em><em>!</em>" Shouyou protested.</p><p>"What do you think I've been doing this whole time?" Kageyama glared down at him. "Studying a map?"</p><p>"Maybe you should have been!"</p><p>"Let it go please," Daichi sighed, placing the last of the cucumber into a bowl. "Everyone go wash up." </p><p>The conversation around the dinner table was easy and rowdy. They fell as they usually did, into talking about their days. Suga discussed his thesis with Daichi. Asahi fretted about the model he'd covered for Yachi, a teenage boy who'd wanted to know if she was single.</p><p>"So?" Noya asked around a mouthful of meat. At some point, he'd hooked his ankle around Asahi's under the table. "What'd you tell him?"</p><p>"'...Jiroshi-kun, she's 51.'" </p><p>There were peals of laughter. "I don't think I ever had a crush on someone that much older than me," Shouyou said thoughtfully.</p><p>"What's the oldest person you've had a crush on?" Ryuu asked, doling himself out more rice. "Who wants some of this?"</p><p>"Me please!" Tadashi called. Ryuu passed the bowl.  "I had a crush on my homeroom teacher in middle school," he added as he served himself. Beside him, Kei frowned at his plate as if this conversation was somehow offensive.</p><p>"How old was she?" Shouyou was attempting to steal a strip of beef off of Kageyama's plate. Kageyama parried his chopsticks easily.</p><p>Tadashi's response of "Maybe 30?" got swept aside as Kageyama snapped, "Dumbass! Did I say you could have that?"</p><p>"You're taking too long to eat! It's gonna go cold."</p><p>"Who gets to decide that? You?"</p><p>Their bickering could have continued, but then Noya said, "Hey, Shouyou." Holding up a beef ball between the claw of his thumb and forefinger, he grinned in challenge. "Open up."</p><p>Shouyou's eyes sparkled and he held his mouth open like a snake trying to unhinge its jaw. Noya's toss sailed through the air in a perfect arc. The table shifted slightly and Shouyou bounced in his seat and caught it. Cheeks puffed up like a hamster, he landed in his chair again, grinning.</p><p>"Heyo!" Ryuu cheered as Noya fished another one out of the serving dish. Beef balls were a little weird with this meal but Daichi hadn't trusted the beef strips to be enough and they were the only other thing left in the freezer.</p><p>"Kageyama, your turn," Noya called. </p><p>Kageyama frowned. "It's been in your <em> hands,</em>" he said as though Noya wasn't holding it delicately between his retractable werewolf claws. </p><p>"What's the matter, Kageyama?" Ryuu said. "You don't think you can catch it?"</p><p>Shouyou violently swallowed the bite of food in his mouth. "Scared-yama. Chicken-yama."</p><p>Kageyama's hand snaked out suddenly, fisting in the top of Shouyou's hair. "<em>Fine,</em>" he hissed, and opened his mouth. </p><p>Noya's shot was dead-center. Kageyama barely had to tilt his neck. He released Shouyou's hair and sat back, chewing with evident satisfaction as Noya and Ryuu applauded him.</p><p>The whole display was juvenile but Daichi liked how relaxed Kageyama seemed right now, holding himself with something approaching ease. He caught Suga's eye. They smiled.</p><p>Once the dishes had been cleared and the kitchen had been cleaned up, everyone went to fetch their overnight packs. There was more elbowing and jostling than usual, more yelling to each other even when they were all in the same room. The atmosphere was one of anticipation. As inconvenient as it was to take the train out to the forest every month, Daichi loved seeing his pack like this. Excited to go out, excited to run and to bond.</p><p>Aggression wasn't the only side-effect of the full moon. For some wolves it wasn't even a primary response. For some, like Shouyou, it was a secondary reaction to having more energy than usual and few ways to channel it. Aside from Shouyou's restlessness, or Ryuu and Noya's amplified responses to <em> everything</em>, there was Kei's irritability, Asahi's sensitivity. There were also some who found themselves constantly, obnoxiously, horny.</p><p>Suga's hand slid into Daichi's back pocket and squeezed.</p><p>"Behave," Daichi muttered, shouldering his pack. </p><p>"I'm constantly behaving, Sawamura-san." Suga sounded like he was spouting one of his textbooks. "Behavior can be desired or undesired, but one is always <em> behaving.</em>" He delivered this last line looking at Daichi through his lashes. They were standing toe-to-toe. It was incredibly nerdy but it was also incredibly Suga and Daichi had never been immune to Suga. He groaned.</p><p>"Is there any chance Sugawara-san could behave patiently until tomorrow night?"</p><p>Suga made a show of tapping his cheek thoughtfully. "Per..haps." His expression turned mischievous again. "Would Sawamura-san like to place a bet on whether Noya and Asahi are having a version of this conversation right now?" Noya was another member of the pack the obnoxiously horny thing happened to. </p><p>Daichi snorted. "They definitely are, but Noya's not gonna win. Asahi's not gonna let him do anything while we're trying to get out the door." </p><p>"I'm still not convinced you and Asahi don't have secret meetings about how to blueball your poor, unfortunate boyfriends," Suga said as they moved for the bedroom door. </p><p>Daichi paused, hand on the door handle. Looking back at Suga, he arched an eyebrow. "Because I won't let you grope me in front of every man in this house?" </p><p>The scent of arousal hit his nostrils and Daichi knew, <em> knew</em>, that Suga was picturing it. Touching Daichi, not in front of the literal men in this house, but in front of <em> people. </em>His own body was starting to feel warm. </p><p>"Koushi," he warned. They had a train to catch. </p><p>Suga's eyes were molten. "Open the door, Daichi."</p><p>Daichi opened the door and let them into the hallway. The sounds of the rest of the pack greeted his ears. Someone was tussling in the next bedroom, Shouyou and Ryuu by the sound of it. Which meant Kageyama was probably there too.</p><p>"This is your five minute warning!" Daichi called, pounding a fist on the door as he walked passed. </p><p>"Yes Daichi-san!"</p><p>As they started down the stairs, Daichi slipped his hand into Suga's, lacing their fingers together. Suga squeezed his hand and this time the warmth that ran through him was innocent. </p><p>Kei and Tadashi were waiting for them by the front door, comparing something on Kei's phone to a brochure in Tadashi's hands. As they got closer, Daichi could see it was a guide to the wildlife near Shichikashuku Lake, the place they were heading tonight. </p><p>"There," Kei said, pointing to the map. Tadashi dutifully marked something down.</p><p>"What was it this time?" Suga asked. Tsuikishima and Tadashi were always after critters of some kind.</p><p>"Mamushi," Kei said. </p><p>"The snake?"</p><p>Kei nodded. "Pit viper, more precisely. There was a sighting reported by the park ranger last week."</p><p>"Are you going to try to find one?" Suga let go of Daichi's hand so he could take a look at the map. </p><p>"Of course not," Kei said. "It's one of the two most venomous snakes in Japan."</p><p>Suga looked suitably impressed. "What's the other one?" </p><p>"The Okinawan habu."</p><p>"Isn't that the one that's used in that snake liquor?</p><p>"Habushu, yes." It would have been hard to explain to an outsider, but Kei looked about one degree more warm and friendly when the conversation was on topics like this. </p><p>"They can also use scorpions!" Tadashi interjected. "Or lizards."</p><p>"What can use lizards?" Shouyou was on the stairs, getting a piggyback from Ryuu. Noya was getting one from Asahi.</p><p>The conversation fell to the topic of which drink everyone would rather try; snake, scorpion, or lizard. Daichi opened the front door and led them all outside as they debated.</p><p>The train ride would take roughly an hour. It was a little intimidating for the other passengers to suddenly have to share with nine grown men and their overnight bags (Shouyou and Noya aside, the rest of them were not exactly little), so Daichi usually sent them in two groups. Suga would go with the first three volunteers and Daichi would go with the remaining four. </p><p>Even if it was two days before the full moon, running the pack would burn off a lot of steam. It would take the full moon itself from being a day from hell, to just being a day of vague unpleasantness. It was like going from the feeling of being completely covered in insects, to the feeling of a mild headache. </p><p>The pack breezed through the turnstiles, drawing looks from the other station-goers with their loud voices. Shouyou, Noya, and Ryuu all opted to slide on the last flight of railing to the underground platform, taking advantage of a chance window with no pedestrians. The others took the stairs behind them, Tadashi excitedly discussing the prospect of rabbits or other small game they might find, his voice a bright chirp in contrast to Kei's quiet timbre. </p><p>As they all assembled on the platform, Daichi ran through his usual head count. <em> One, </em> he thought, his fingers twitching in acknowledgement of himself. <em> Two, </em> Suga, smiled in recognition of what he was doing. Three was Asahi, four was Noya... He ran through the nine wolves in his pack with a well-worn method.</p><p>He came up short.</p><p>"Where's Kageyama?"</p><p>"What?" Suga turned towards him and then back towards the rest of the pack.</p><p>"Where's Kageyama?" he repeated louder. The pack began to look among the other pedestrians on the platform. Nothing.</p><p>"Asahi?" Daichi asked after a moment. Pack leaders usually had the best sense of smell, but Asahi's nose was just unusually good. </p><p>"He's not down here," Asahi said, confirming what Daichi's nose was already telling him.</p><p>"'Kay, I'm taking Asahi and we're gonna find him. Suga, you take the first group like we planned."</p><p>"Aye, aye Captain!" Suga gave him a reassuring smile as he and Asahi headed back for the stairs.</p><p>Not all packs had a designated third, but Asahi was theirs. The position was something akin to an emergency contact. Asahi might not always hold his head high for his own sake, but if the chips were down, if Daichi and Suga couldn't, Daichi trusted Asahi to hold the line.</p><p>("I don't know how to lead a pack," Asahi had said, eyes wide when Daichi had asked him.</p><p>"Asahi," Daichi said. "If one of these men called you at three in the morning, would you ever fail to pick up that phone?"</p><p>"Of course not!"  </p><p>"If they needed something from you, would you ever refuse to give it?"</p><p>Asahi's resolve had steeled. "Never."</p><p>Daich smiled and brought his hand to the side of Asahi's neck. <em> " </em> That's all I need from you." <em> ) </em></p><p>Also he gave the best damn hugs Daichi had ever experienced in his <em> life</em>. To a human, that might have sounded flippant, but to a werewolf, it counted for a lot.</p><p>Asahi caught the scent as they neared the top of the stairs, a full fifteen feet before Daichi found it himself. Daichi watched his eyes widen, his nostrils flair, and then he was picking through the crowd with purpose, letting himself back through the gate, Daichi trailing in his wake. </p><p>Kageyama must have gotten turned around in the crowd somehow because he was talking to the ticket agent. Or standing near the ticket agent. He looked almost constipated actually, just looking at the ticket agent, hands balled into fists at his sides. His eyes widened as Asahi and Daichi approached.</p><p>"Everything okay?" Daichi asked, already mentally cataloguing the scents coming off him. <em> Stress. Frustration. ...Fear. </em> This last one surprised him. Honest-to-God <em>fear</em>, not just nervousness at getting separated in a strange train station.</p><p>"My pass didn't work," Kageyama said. His eyebrows were pinched and angry. "I was trying to get it sorted out and then everyone just left."</p><p>"Why didn't you tell anyone?"</p><p>Kageyama looked at the ground, the picture of childish petulance. He didn't say anything. </p><p>"Kageyama," Daichi tried again. He was met with more silence. "<em>Kageyama</em>. I asked you a question."</p><p>"It wasn't supposed to take that long," Kageyama muttered, not meeting Daichi's gaze. "But when I looked back everyone was gone." </p><p>"And you didn't know which platform we had gone down?" </p><p>"...Something like that," Kageyama said finally.</p><p>Daichi debated for half a second whether to force Kageyama to explain whatever "<em>something like that</em>" meant. Making eye contact with Asahi, he let it go.</p><p>"Is it okay now?" Asahi asked, pressing a large, gentle shoulder to Kageyama's. Kageyama raised his head.</p><p>"Is <em> what </em>okay now?" </p><p>"Did you get your pass sorted out?" </p><p>"Oh." Kageyama's gaze fell. "The money I put on it from last month uh, expired." His face pinched further. "I didn't have enough to renew."</p><p><em> Why the hell didn't you call one of us? </em> Daichi wanted to demand. <em> Instead of just standing there? </em> </p><p>"Yeah, I used to get confused about that too..." Asahi said, rubbing his hand to the back of his neck. "You actually need to do the pre-loaded version."</p><p>Kageyama looked at Asahi as though he had started speaking another language. With a sigh, Daichi held out his hand. "Pass."</p><p>He watched as Kageyama looked at him, and then his outstretched hand. Slowly, he handed over his transit card. Daichi walked up to the ticket counter. In Daichi's peripheral, he was aware of Asahi remaining near Kageyama's side, humming a quiet tune and swaying slightly, as though the brushing of their shoulders against each other was nothing more than coincidence. </p><p>The smell of stress coming from Kageyama turned to one of embarrassment. His posture however, began to relax. The scent of fear slowly drained away.</p><p>As they shepherded Kageyama through the turnstile, Asahi and Daichi made eye contact. <em> What the hell was that? </em></p><p>"What the heck was that?" Shouyou demanded as they reached the bottom of the stairs again. The other train had already come. It was just him and Ryuu on the platform now.</p><p>Kageyama glared at him. "My pass stopped working." </p><p>Shouyou glared back at him. Then he scoffed. "Took you long enough."</p><p>"What's that supposed to mean?"</p><p>"Means we were all waiting for you!" Shouyou's voice was loud and chiding. People turned to look in vague curiosity before glancing away again.</p><p>Kageyama's eyes widened. He sputtered for a moment before turning away from Shouyou and just staring out at the empty train tracks. The subtlest scent of surprise was coming from him. </p><p>Asahi and Daichi made eye contact again. Casually, Daichi pulled out his phone and found Asahi's contact.</p><p>From: Daichi<br/><em>I think he thought we were just going to leave him.</em></p><p>The train pulled up just as he was slipping his phone back into his pocket. Asahi didn't check his until everyone was getting settled. It was a good thing Noya had gone on the other train, he had a tendency to read over Asahi's shoulder. Daichi watched Asahi read his message. Watched his friend's eyebrows pull together with something akin to heartbreak. Slowly Asahi raised his head to meet Daichi's eyes. He nodded.</p><p>Normally in the aftermath of an insecurity like that, Daichi would have taken care to physically handle Kageyama as much as possible. To make sure that he knew that screw-up or no screw-up, he was still part of this pack. Problem was, a train full of people was not the place to scent mark a wolf properly. Daichi settled for gripping the handlebar above Kageyama's head so that they stood closer than necessary. Kageyama eyed this intrusion into his space with poorly-concealed suspicion, startling when Asahi stepped to Kageyama's other side, penning him in. He looked between the two of them, confused. Their three hands were almost touching on the bar above them. Every time the train jostled, Kageyama brushed one of them.</p><p>"Okay?" Daichi asked, because there was a small chance Kageyama was reading this as some kind of intimidation or something. The guy was not adept at intuiting pack dynamics.</p><p>He watched Kageyama take in his face and force himself to relax. He gave Daichi a nod. "Okay."</p><p>"Hey!" Shouyou appeared in front of them. "Kei says wolves don't kill snakes. I told him we were gonna prove him wrong."</p><p>"Wanna go hunting for snakes?" Ryuu asked, appearing beside him. He showed all his teeth, his signature expression somewhere between a grin and a challenge.</p><p>Kageyama's eyes widened again. Daichi was beginning to understand the difference between when it happened because he was nervous and when he was interested. And right now he was dialed in. </p><p>Time to intervene. "<em>No one </em> is going to be hunting snakes," Daichi said firmly. "If Kei says we're not equipped to kill snakes then we're not." </p><p>"What if we had to though, Daichi-san?" Shouyou's warm brown eyes were almost comically earnest. "What if a snake was hunting us? Like a giant one?"</p><p>Daichi could feel a headache brewing. "If, for <em> some reason, </em> we absolutely needed to confront a giant, <em> wolf-eating snake </em>and kill it, it would be Noya and Ryuu's job." Noya and Ryuu were their two best fighters. </p><p>"You and Noya-san would be so good at that," Shouyou enthused, looking up at Ryuu as he spoke. He appeared to contemplate for a moment. "Do you think Noya-san could teach me how to bite like that?"</p><p>Ryuu cackled. "'Bite like that?' Like how? Like 'beating a witch at a game of poker and getting a spell out of her?' I can help you with that kiddo." Ryuu appeared to be preening. "I'm the one who taught Noya how to play." </p><p>Shouyou positively glowed. "Will you really teach me poker?"</p><p>"You know it." Ryuu ruffled his hair.</p><p>Noya had the spell tattooed in the middle of his back, above his shoulder blades. It gave his jaw the snapping power of a wildcat. Wildcat bites were naturally stronger than wolves and Kei estimated Noya's bite to have a snapping force of something like 2000 psi. </p><p>("Whoa, is that a lot?" Shouyou had asked. Kei's eyebrow had twitched.</p><p>"It's more than twice the force needed to crush a bowling ball. So yes. It's '<em>a lot</em>.'")</p><p>The rest of the pack was waiting for them as they piled off the train. They called to each other like they'd been separated for weeks. Noya slung one arm around Ryuu's shoulders and another around Asahi's waist, thumb hooking into a belt loop on his jeans. Shouyou immediately pulled Kei, Tadashi, and Kageyama into a discussion about eating reptiles.</p><p>Suga came to lay his hand on Daichi's shoulder. </p><p>"Find him okay?" he murmured in Daichi's ear.</p><p>"Yeah." He trusted Suga to hear the sigh in the word, to know there was more to it, and trusted him to know they'd have to talk about it later. </p><p>The hike to the edge of town took 30 minutes. Once they passed the shrine, they would be able to shift. Generally these days, creatures of the night tried to fit in with polite society, to play by the rules, and the folks that lived around the shrines and the temples tended to be understanding. This particular shrine was attached to a small inn, and the keepers were werewolves themselves. For a reasonable fee, they would look after everyone's overnight things. They also had changing stations that opened towards the forest, complete with complimentary robes, so no one had to come to the front of the house fully naked the next morning. </p><p>Once the fee was paid, everyone headed out to the changing stations out back to disrobe and then to shift. Every werewolf, especially when they were still learning to control themselves, had hulked-out at least once and shredded their clothes. It was totally understandable, but still, there was no reason to let that keep happening. They weren't <em> complete </em> animals.</p><p>Daichi stepped out of his socks last, rolled them up, and set them on top of the neat pile of clothes in the corner of his booth. The night air was cool on his skin. Taking a deep, contented breath, he began to shift. </p><p>Werewolves were larger than their purely wolf counterparts, who were already larger than most people realized. Getting turned was a painful, often horrifying experience, but once a wolf settled into their new skin, the sense of power was incredible. It was almost dizzying to go from working a 9:00-5:00 by day, to 300lbs of raw, deadly power at night. Daichi in wolf form was two meters tall. For a werewolf, that was <em> average. </em> </p><p>Stepping out of his changing booth, he fell to all fours. Suga stepped out of the one immediately to his right, his brindled gray and white fur almost glowing under the night sky. Out of the booth next to him, stepped Tadashi, his warm brown fur and tawny underbelly making him as disarming as it was possible to be for a creature who was 220 cm tall. </p><p>Daichi let out a short call, almost a whoop, and broke for the tree line. His pack ran behind him. </p><p>As they entered the forest proper, they fanned out, sniffing what was new, what was familiar, catching whiffs of creatures, natural and supernatural, that had been here since last time. They would spend hours running tonight, literal hours. Whether they were chasing squirrels, whether they were racing, whether they were running just to run, they were alive and burning with besitial energy.</p><p>About an hour into their paces, Kei caught scent of something. He paused, ears perked, tail catching a swath of moonlight. Kei was pure white in wolf form. If Suga looked glow-in-the-dark, Kei was downright radioactive. </p><p>Before anyone else could react, Shouyou had picked it up too, blowing past them all and heading deeper into the trees. Kageyama was hot on his heels. Kageyama, like Daichi, was pure black and Daichi <em> felt </em>rather than saw him move. </p><p>Daichi was unconcerned. If they needed something, they'd howl. Still, he course-corrected just a touch, veering vaguely to stay in their vicinity. At some point, he found a clearing and deemed it worthy for them all to sleep in. They would probably get to sleeping around 5:00 in the morning, just drop together in a pile to get a few scant hours before stumbling back to the inn. Suga and Asahi, recognizing his intentions immediately, began to circle the area, marking.</p><p>Like wolves, werewolves had scent glands in their paws (well, hands and feet), and in their lower backs. They also had an extra scent gland that wolves didn't, just behind their ears. Daichi was unsurprised when Asahi began to scratch his back against a tree like some kind of particularly monstrous bear, letting outsiders know this was their clearing for the night. Suga made lazy laps, brushing his palms against every trunk as he went. </p><p>Daichi, for his own part, pressed his forehead to a few strategically chosen trunks, and breathed his scent name out against them. Scents were how werewolves called each other while transformed. He might as well have been carving his initials into the bark. Pausing, he took a breath in, testing his handiwork. His own name came back into his lungs; <em> Sawdust and clean sweat</em>. </p><p>Abruptly, Suga's nose nuzzled against his ear and the scent of Suga's name broke across his senses. Daichi had to place a clawed hand on the tree to steady himself because Suga's name always went to his head. <em> Fermenting fruit on a summer day. </em> Alcoholic processes he couldn't parse rolled across his tongue. Suga's scent name was less a name and more of a sommelier's notebook. </p><p>And then it was over. With a quick lick to Daichi's ear, Suga left his name across Daichi's neck. </p><p>Asahi huffed loudly from across the clearing, concerned with propriety even here. Suga tossed his head in Asahi's direction, tongue lolling out, laughing at him. Stepping closer, Suga pushed Noya's scent name at Asahi as if to say, <em> As if I'm any hornier than </em> your <em> boyfriend. </em> Daichi, a few feet back, caught the barest whiff of <em> storm in the mountains. </em></p><p>Asahi sneezed, actually <em> sneezed. </em> It was hugely endearing, not that Daichi was ever going to tell him. It was just plain cute to see this big, brown-and-black monster primly horrified with the idea of letting his partner mark him up in public. </p><p>Of course, that was the exact moment Noya broke through the trees. </p><p>He and Ryuu tackled Asahi to the ground and they went rolling. Shouyou materialized from somewhere and joined the dogpile, and then Daichi and Suga too, just because they could. The sounds of happy yips and rumbles broke through the night air.</p><p>It was a good night to be a pack.</p><p>They made their way back to the clearing hours later when the birds were starting their pre-dawn chorus and the sky was just beginning to turn grey. Half of the wolves were wet from where they had been splashing around the lake. Damp fur meant they were going to be doing some grooming before they settled in to sleep and Suga was already started on Shouyou, his tongue dragging through the thatch of warm ginger-brown on top of his head as they walked. Daichi, for his own part, was running a head count.</p><p><em> Son of a bitch, </em> he thought, as he tried and failed to find the very wolf he'd deliberately wanted to start with. <em> Twice in one night? </em> Twice<em>? </em></p><p>He started his line of interrogation with Shouyou because he was the most likely to know, breathing Kageyama's scent name like a question. Then watched Shouya's wide brown eyes blink in confusion, look around and register Kageyama as missing. Looking back up at Daichi, he shook his head apologetically. <em> Sorry, Daichi-san. </em></p><p>Daichi just sighed.</p><p>Asahi was next because if they had to scent the guy down, they might as well get started on it. Asahi was currently grooming Ryuu, who was in turn grooming Noya, who beamed up at Daichi as he approached, tongue lazing out of his mouth contentedly. </p><p>Asahi paused from where his hands were mussing Ryuu's salt-and-pepper fur, airing out the dampness. </p><p><em> Kageyama? </em>Daichi asked.</p><p>Asahi's eyes widened, and he, like Shouyou, cast his gaze around the clearing. He looked about to stand up, when Noya's hand slapped against Daichi's hip. He released the scent so strongly, they all caught wind of it; <em> lightning in the air. </em></p><p>Kageyama.</p><p>Daichi turned in time to see Kageyama enter the clearing, dragging an entire deer carcass with him. Daichi felt his eyebrows jump. Kageyama dropped the deer to the ground without ceremony and, settling beside it, began to eat.</p><p>The pack went silent. Kageyama had done several things wrong.</p><p>First of all, hunting was largely considered a pack-bonding activity. This was especially true in an age when the pack lived in a city, down the street from a grocery store. Since hunting as provisions was largely secondary now, hunting alone came across as downright anti-social. Next, hunting something and not sharing it with the pack was basically the height of rudeness. Especially because Kageyama appeared completely prepared to eat it right in front of them. </p><p>As usual when it came to Kageyama, it was Shouyou who broke the silence first. Wriggling away from Suga, he bounded right up and sunk his teeth right into the kill. Everyone watched.</p><p>Kageyama growled, and Shouyou raised his head, growling back. Kageyama blinked at him. Shouyou stared. It was, Daichi realized his shoulders relaxing, a lot like how they bickered in human form.</p><p><em> Dumbass, </em> he could picture Kageyama saying, <em> did I say you could have some? </em></p><p><em> Why'd you bring it if you're not gonna share? </em> Shouyou would demand in return. <em> Bakayama! </em></p><p>With a much put-upon huff, Kageyama looked away. A huge grin split Shouyou's face. He bowed his head to resume eating. </p><p>Awkwardness broken, Ryuu and Noya scrambled over, clapping Kageyama on the shoulders, making him sway between them, pulling at his ears with their teeth, praising. With every wag, their tags thumped him on the back. </p><p><em> Meat! </em> Daichi could hear their voices crowing with every thump. <em> Meat! </em> Thump. <em> Meat! </em> Thump. <em> Meat! </em>Thump-thump-thump.</p><p>There was one other social faux pas Kageyama absolutely did not realize he was committing. Daichi contemplated it as he watched the four of them fall to eating—It was not a good look for a pack leader to watch someone else feed their wolves. </p><p>Suga made eye contact with Daichi. Daichi watched his eyes flick to the deer carcass and then back to Daichi, a question. Daichi nodded. Suga didn't really need his permission to eat someone else's kill but it soothed the wolf in Daichi that he'd asked. </p><p>As Suga came forward to eat, Asahi's eyes found him next, asking the same question. Daichi nodded to him too. Then, to make his blessing imminently clear, he herded Tadashi and Kei forward as well, even if Kei went with extreme reluctance. He probably wouldn't have gone at all but his stomach betrayed him, growling painfully loud. Daichi let his mouth open, tongue panting out, laughing at him. Kei scowled but fell in line to eat, letting Daichi bring up the rear.</p><p><em> Kageyama, </em> Daichi decided, <em> is both really fucking bad at being a werewolf and</em>—he cast his eyes on the haunch of the deer before him—<em>really fucking good at it. </em></p><p>He wondered if that had been the problem with his last pack. </p><p>As he stepped up to take his own bite, he made eye contact with his newest member. The smell of Kageyama's nervousness hit his nostrils again. In wolf form it would have been too hard for Daichi to call him on it, so he just kept his posture casual and went to eat. </p><p>He was hungry but he only took a few bites. This was still largely Kageyama's kill and even if it was polite to share, Daichi wasn't looking to make him resent the sharing. As he lifted his head again, he was aware of the blood on his muzzle. He reached to wipe it away with the back of his hand, and Kageyama flinched. He looked over. Kageyama was staring.</p><p><em> Not a flinch, </em> Daichi realized. <em> Hesitation. </em> He waited for Kageyama to look him in the eyes again, and gave a nod.</p><p>Leaning forward, reeking of awkwardness, Kageyama lapped the blood off his leader's jaw. It was deferential behavior, a token way to acknowledge Daichi's rank over him. In wolf form, it was an exceedingly normal thing to do. Everyone else in the pack had done the same for him at some point. Yet Kageyama as he moved, was as stiff as a mannequin. He seemed to have no idea if he was doing the right thing. </p><p><em> Did no one ever show you? </em> Daichi had to wonder, feeling almost lost even as he allowed the attention. <em> Did no one ever show you how to fit into a pack? </em> And if the answer was "no," well, what the <em> hell </em> had Kageyama's old pack been doing?</p><p>Once everyone had eaten as much as they were going to, the pack settled into their pile for the night. They didn't really have assigned sleeping positions, but Daichi pulled Kageyama to sleep beside him. He hadn't gotten to offer physical reassurance on the train but he was going to do it now. Kageyama lay stiffly at first, so Daichi rolled his eyes and wrapped an arm around his neck, tucking this wayward wolf into his side. Slowly, as Kageyama seemed to realize there was no intricate social etiquette required of him here, he began to relax. It helped when Noya flung himself down on Kageyama's other side, ruffling the fur on Kageyama's head with his chin. As Daichi smoothed it back down for him, Noya stretched luxuriously and rolled onto his stomach. </p><p>Noya's fur pattern was almost reminiscent of a desert wolf, including the strange stripe of longer fur that ran down his spine. It had picked up dirt and twigs as he rolled. Asahi settled himself down and began to run his claws through it gently, picking away the traces of the forest.</p><p>The rest of the pack acting like normal seemed to calm Kageyama even further. Daichi felt him begin to go truly boneless against his shoulder. He felt Suga tuck himself against Daichi's back. As the sun slowly began to rise, the Karasuno pack slept.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Just in case some zoology nerd finds this: *I* know wolves can kills snakes and *Tsukki* knows wolves can kill snakes but what Tsukki meant was wolves don't TYPICALLY kill snakes and snakes tend to avoid wolves anyway. Hinata misinterpreted his comment.<br/>Also comments and kudos are &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Part Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The day of the full moon had Asahi working from home. He didn't do it every month, but he was extremely grateful to have a job where he could. Every one of his senses felt too amplified right now, and it was just better to stay home. He and Suga had moved the desk in Suga's home office so that they could both sit at it, though Suga at this point had left for campus. </p><p>His music shifted into a song Noya had put on his phone, startling him. Noya had a lot of music where people yelled. With a sigh, he pulled the headphones off, trying to calm his racing heart.</p><p>"Tell me what I'm doing wrong!" Kageyama's voice came from downstairs, rattling in agitation past the open office door. </p><p>"Alphabetically? Or in order of significance?" Kei. Aside from Asahi, he and Kageyama were the only two home. The smell of hostility tickled Asahi's nose. He got up from his chair.</p><p>"What does <em> that </em>mean?"</p><p>"It means 'how shall I explain everything you're doing wrong, Your Majesty?'"</p><p>Asahi's steps thundered down the stairs. </p><p>He missed if Kageyama had replied but Kei was continuing. "You know, I'm surprised you even <em> joined </em> another pack." Through the dead silence of the rest of the house, Asahi could hear the little choked noise Kageyama made. It sounded strangled. Pained.</p><p>"Kei!" The two men in the living room turned to look at him. He glared Kei down.</p><p>Kei's eyes widened minutely. He looked away, having the grace to smell embarrassed. He still needled at people but he'd come a long way. These days he usually didn't hit where it hurt. And with Kageyama, he should have known better. He should have known how little room he had to talk because Kei himself had been so difficult when he first joined their pack. Treating Kageyama like that was hypocritical. Kei knew it and he knew Asahi knew it.</p><p>Kageyama didn't know it.</p><p>"Kageyama," Asahi began. He wasn't sure what to say. <em> Don't listen to Kei, he was the same when he first joined, </em> was true but not exactly gracious. <em> Kageyama, you don't ever have to let us call you by your given name if you don't want to, </em> seemed disjointed. </p><p>"Were you having trouble with something?" was what Asahi finally settled on. </p><p>Kageyama looked startled. His gaze slid off to a corner somewhere. "Tsukishima won't show me how to scent a message."</p><p>Asahi raised his eyebrows ever so slightly. This was one of the first things most werewolves got taught. Glancing between Kei and Kageyama, he said, "Do you want <em> me </em> to show you?" </p><p>Kageyama nodded, eager and surprised. Kei, maybe ashamed at Asahi's willingness, turned away.</p><p>"Kei," Asahi said softly as Kageyama crossed the room to join him. Kei looked up "Take a walk." The words were belied by the gentle suggestion of his tone.</p><p>He listened as Kei slowly breathed in and out, could tell he was schooling down his irritation. "Yes, Asahi-san." </p><p>"What part is giving you trouble?" Asahi asked as Kei retreated, leaving him and Kageyama alone. </p><p>Kageyama frowned and mumbled something.</p><p>"Sorry?"</p><p>"I don't know," Kageyama repeated, clearly embarrassed. "Tsukishima won't tell me where I'm going wrong."</p><p>"Okay." Asahi took a moment to organize his thoughts. "Well, to start, let's go outside."</p><p>Asahi never used to consider himself the type who could take people under his wing, but years of pack responsibility will do that to a person.</p><p>They went out to the modest backyard which contained a patio, a shed, a thin strip of grass, and two trees. It couldn't hold all of the wolves at once. It could barely hold three of them. When they wanted to run, they went to the park down the road. But for Asahi and Kageyama's purposes, it would be enough. He led Kageyama to one of the trees, trying to recall his early days with being a werewolf, what his teachers had shown him. "Okay, I think we should start with something simple. If I asked you to scent a warning about another werewolf, how would you do it?" It was the first scent Ukai had taught him; generic werewolf.</p><p>Kageyama frowned. "Which werewolf?" he asked.</p><p>"Any," Asahi assured him. "Just a werewolf."</p><p>Kageyama frowned. He stepped close to the bark of the tree and breathed a scent against it. <em> Ice on the ground. </em> Kei.</p><p>It smelled so disgruntled that Asahi snorted and then hastily covered his mouth. "Ah, sorry," he said. "It's just funny that you would warn someone about him..." He trailed off when Kageyama turned to look at him, embarrassment seeping through the air. Asahi rubbed the back of his neck.</p><p>"You said 'any wolf', Azumane-san,"Kageyama said, sounding extremely put-out.</p><p>"Sorry," Asahi said again. "I should have been more clear. Make the scent for werewolves in general. We're starting simple."</p><p>Kageyama's face was blank. "What."</p><p>Asahi blinked at him. <em> What 'what?' </em> Then he gave himself a tiny shake to clear it. He had been new once too. Stepping forward, he found his own spot against the trunk and pushed out the scent of <em> werewolf </em>, devoid of personal details, just the simple basenotes that connected the species. "Smell that?" he asked, turning towards Kageyama once more.</p><p>He watched Kageyama's nostrils flare as he breathed it in. "Yeah."</p><p>"You already understand how to recreate more complicated smells, that's really good! You just have to get some of the basics covered." </p><p>Kageyama squared his shoulders and to Asahi's surprise, bowed slightly. "Please teach me, Azumane-san."</p><p>"Of course!" Asahi put on his most reassuring smile. Then he remembered something, namely that he was still on the clock. He checked his watch. "I'll be finished work in an hour, so meet me back outside then?"</p><p>Kageyama's eyes shone with a determination that was completely over the top. Asahi's heart went out to him. "Yes!"</p><p>The end of Asahi's workday found him and Kageyama in the backyard again, Asahi with a bucket of water and scent neutralizer. "When we're finished we'll clean up the smells for next time," he explained in response to Kageyama's questioning expression. </p><p>"Understood." </p><p>"I was thinking, Kageyama," Asahi began. "Do you know how to make the scent sign for the Karasuno pack?" In the same way that language began to build itself naturally in someone's mind once that person had mastered the basics, scent-marking usually became intuitive after a certain point. If someone was comfortable enough communicating that way, they didn't need to have a pack name explicitly spelled out for them, they would be able to figure it out. Asahi suspected that someone had neglected to teach Kageyama the basics. </p><p>This suspicion was confirmed when Kageyama shook his head. "No."</p><p>"It's easy. You'll get it right away," Asahi said. "You need a regional scent, the pack scent, and Daichi's scent." Then, "Is that too fast?" because Kageyama was giving him a strange look. </p><p>"I need the pack scent to <em> make </em> the pack scent?"</p><p>"You need the pack scent to make the pack scent <em> sign, </em>" Asahi corrected. </p><p>Kageyama tilted his head. His hair slid along with the motion. "I don't understand," he admitted finally.</p><p>Asahi cast his mind back to his own early days as a werewolf, searching for inspiration. "Come on," he said finally. "I'll show you." He led Kageyama back towards the house. He stopped them a few paces before the door. "It helps to push all the air from your lungs and hold your breath." Even with his own nose, even with his heightened sensitivity during the full moon, it was still easy to relegate such a familiar scent to background noise.</p><p>Kageyama's breath <em> whooshed </em> harshly out of his nose, his shoulders falling with the motion. Asahi took two steps forward and opened the door.</p><p>"Breath in." He followed his own advice as he spoke. With his senses in their sharpened state, he almost felt it on his tongue, the now-familiar scent of <em> pack </em> and <em> comfort </em> and <em> home. </em>"Smell that?" he asked. </p><p>He could see the understanding begin to color Kageyama's face as he breathed it in.</p><p>"That's the scent the nine of us make together," Asahi told him. </p><p>Kageyama turned to look at him. "That's the middle note," he said, maybe for confirmation.</p><p>"Yes!" </p><p>"And you said the top note is the regional one?"</p><p>"Exactly."</p><p>Kageyama's gaze took on a kind of inward focus. He was thinking. "Why is that?"</p><p>"The top and middle notes disappear first," Asahi explained. "We want the most important note to remain last." A reverse triangle, that's how Ukai had explained it to him.</p><p>Kageyama turned this over some more. "Why?" he repeated.</p><p>"Why what?"</p><p>"Why is Daichi-san the most important note?"</p><p>A fair question. It seemed more natural to say the pack scent itself should have been the base note. However, "The pack leader is the point of reference for all outside packs. If anyone were to reach out to us, they would need to refer themselves to Daichi. It's like," Asahi sought for an appropriate comparison. "It's like the name and telephone number on a business card. The card will tell you what business you're contacting or where it is." He spoke slowly, sorting his thoughts as he voiced them. "But the most important part is who you're going to ask for." </p><p>This seemed to compute for Kageyama. Asahi saw comprehension on his face. Then his eyes widened slightly and his nostrils flared. His smell took on a flavor that Asahi could only describe as, <em> "oh shit."  </em></p><p>"What if..." Kageyama cleared his throat. "If you were leaving your name instead of your pack leader's... what would that mean?"</p><p>Asahi raised his eyebrows. "Well, there are times when that's appropriate," he said, to give a little hope. "If someone has specifically asked for you, or if you're trying to reach someone who is your personal friend. But otherwise, it, ah, can be a little rude. It might seem like <em> you </em> want to be pack leader."</p><p>Kageyama was frowning, His gaze had gone internal. "I don't want to be pack leader," he muttered darkly, but Asahi knew it wasn't directed at him. </p><p>"I know," he said anyway. He waited a  beat to see if Kageyama would speak again, or if his expression would smooth. When neither of these things happened, he said, "Do you want to get started?" motioning to the trees in the yard as he spoke.</p><p>Kageyama’s gaze refocused. "Yes please, Azumane-san."</p><p>They practiced for maybe an hour. Kageyama had no problem recreating scents, which Asahi had already known. He didn't even seem to have much problem intuiting them, when they tried working off of nothing more than Asahi's descriptions. The problem was almost linguistic. Suga said that the scent language of werewolves didn't have a complex enough grammar to be called a true language, but there were still ways to get it wrong. The problem was most of the grammar, such as it was, was tied to social convention. And when it came to social convention, Kageyama was completely lost. </p><p>"Well, I wasn't expecting you to master it all in a day," Asahi started to tell him. Kageyama had failed for the third time to get him to understand whatever message had currently been left on the bark. The scents were clear and distinct but there was no connection between them that Asahi could see. Before he got the words out, a voice rang from the top floor.</p><p>"Asahi-saaan," Noya called, hanging out the window. "Come on! We got an hour before dinner!" He waggled his eyebrows flirtaciously. </p><p>Asahi's whole body flushed warm. "Coming!" Looking to Kageyama, he rubbed the back of his neck. "Are you okay to clean up here?" he asked.</p><p>Kageyama looked as uncomfortable as Asahi had ever seen him. He wondered what, if any, romantic affection had been on display at the Aoba Johsai pack. "Yes!" he agreed, sharp and perfunctory. Thanking him, Asahi went inside.</p><p>In the hallway upstairs, Asahi ran into Daichi. Daichi paused, just outside the door to his own bedroom. He met Asahi's gaze with a cocked eyebrow and a wry smile. They both knew exactly what the other person was about to do. They were about to do the same thing. Just, across the hall from each other.</p><p>It had taken Asahi a while to get used to that. </p><p>"Have fun, Azumane," Daichi told him knowingly. </p><p>"Say hi to Suga for me," Asahi said in a rare display of cheekiness. He was rewarded when Daichi grinned. As one, they reached for their respective door handles and turned the knob.</p><p>Noya was waiting for him immediately inside. His grin was one of Asahi's favorites, cocky and feral and bright. Everyone in this pack was a beast, but Asahi could make a strong case for Noya being an actual wild animal.</p><p>"Hey Asa-san." It came out like a purr.</p><p>Asahi didn't try to hide the full-body shiver that went through him. He knew Noya would want to see it. He held out his hand, palm down, and Noya came to him. </p><p>"Hello Yuu." Asahi brushed his hand through Noya's hair. "Where do you want to start?"</p><p>- -</p><p>Asahi was present with Daichi when Daichi finally got around to calling Iwaizumi back. So was Suga. They were sitting in Suga's home office. If they had all still been regular humans, Daichi probably would have put the Aoba Johsai wolf on speaker phone. As it stood, they had supernatural hearing and Daichi kept the phone to his ear the entire time.</p><p>The conversation was efficient and cordial. Daichi would send some people this coming Sunday and Iwaizumi would make sure they had Kageyama's things ready to go. The entire interaction would probably take less than fifteen minutes.</p><p>It was when Daichi hung up the phone that things got tricky. </p><p>Asahi had never been good with pack politics. He had the only position of authority he could ever handle in a pack, being a kind of anchor, an ace-in-the-hole. </p><p>Relationships within the pack itself were easy. Karasuno was lucky they had such a close pack, one that loved each other, one that Asahi loved to be part of. But relationships <em> between </em> packs were delicate. They were full of negotiations and subtleties Asahi didn't understand.</p><p>"Something feels off about this," Daichi said, staring down at his now-dark phone screen.</p><p>"Just one something?" Suga's voice was cheerful even as his eyes were hard. "I can think of several." </p><p>Asahi could too. "Didn't Ukai say Oikawa recommended against finding Kageyama a new pack at all?" When he'd first heard this, he'd been nervous to know what it said about Kageyama. Two months in, with Kageyama having shown himself to be nothing worse than kind of stubborn and a little awkward, he was wondering if it said something about Oikawa. </p><p>"There's that," Daichi acknowledged. "He also told me something else that's been bothering me."</p><p>"What?" Asahi asked, not liking the tension in Daichi's shoulders.</p><p>"Apparently, Kageyama never submitted to Oikawa. Oikawa got him to submit when he first joined but Kageyama never did it willingly after that."</p><p>Asahi was shocked. Suga, as they made eye contact, was too. Asahi was struck with the memory of Kageyama standing in the doorway of their home, neck bared to Suga, waiting for that kiss on the cheek.</p><p>"I was going to bring it up if it turned out to be a problem with us," Daichi added. </p><p>There was a difference between getting a wolf to submit and that wolf submitting on their own. Forcing submission was not, strictly speaking, a bad thing. It didn't have to be a sign of malice, and in fact often wasn't. Daichi had forced submission from almost half wolves in their own pack at some point or other. More often than not, wolves who needed to be forced to heel just wanted to make their leader work for it. They wanted to know that their leader was willing and able to fight if need be. Ryuu had even told them that in the same way human parents might tell their kids to never sign anything without reading it first, werewolf parents would impress upon their children the importance of never joining a pack without making a leader prove themselves. </p><p>It seemed like Kageyama had understood that first part. But if a wolf never offered submission after that...</p><p>"I think," Suga said finally, his thought process as usual steps ahead of Asahi's. "That Kageyama just might like us better."</p><p>Daichi smiled briefly, his eyes going warm. Then he sighed. "I wish we had a clearer impression of what Oikawa's like." They'd never met the guy. On the phone Daichi had only ever spoken to Iwaizumi, Oikawa's second-in-command. </p><p>"Most people say he's charming," Suga said. "He's good with politics, he's good with people. He's an impressive pack leader." Asahi heard what he wasn't saying, that this reputation was at odds with the person who would throw Kageyama out on his ear. Who had never earned his loyalty.</p><p>Daichi heaved a sigh. "Yeah that's what I heard too. The problem is, I asked Kuroo about him." Kuroo Tetsurou was the leader of the Nekoma pack. It was the pack that they were the most friendly with, after the Tanakas.</p><p>"What..." Asahi looked between Suga and Daichi. The air was heavy. "What did he say?"</p><p>"Called him a snake in the grass." The tension was clear in Daichi's shoulders.</p><p>"O-oh."</p><p>"It's completely different than everything everyone else says," Daichi continued. "But Kuroo's opinion is the one I'd bank on. I know him. Everything else is just hearsay."</p><p>"So where does that leave us, oh fearless leader?" Suga asked.</p><p>Daichi's frown was indicative of the wheels turning in his head. "I don't want anyone going to meet him alone," he began. "I'm sure about that." The situation was so delicate, Asahi knew, even if it was just a fifteen minute hand-off. In some ways it was more delicate <em> because </em> it was just a hand-off. It would be rude to treat it like it was a big deal and yet it kind of was. </p><p>That was the problem with pack politics, Asahi had often thought. They were like having anxiety except if everything anxiety made someone worry about was actually <em> true. </em> </p><p>"Safety in numbers, got it," Suga said, continuing their conversation, oblivious to Asahi's musings. "Who should we send?"</p><p>"It can't be me," Daichi said. It was a complete non-issue for Daichi to go see someone like Kuroo or Ukai but Oikawa's history with Kageyama put a strain on things. Daichi was already doing Oikawa the favor of taking in his failed pack member. Going to see him would look like some weird power move. "Which means it probably shouldn't be you either, Suga," Daichi continued. Asahi heard the regret in his tone. Suga was very good at pack relations.</p><p>Asahi took a subtle breath in and set his shoulders. "Guess that makes it me then." </p><p>"Guess so," Daichi agreed.</p><p>"I was actually thinking you'd be a good choice," Suga interjected. "If Oikawa is such a politician, doesn't it make sense to send someone who isn't?"</p><p>"How does that make sense?" Asahi asked in bemusement. </p><p>"Sometimes it takes an honest man to beat a liar," Suga said, which Asahi found cryptic at best. "And you won't somehow let it turn into a pissing match."</p><p>"Okay, Asahi's going," Daichi said. "Who else?" </p><p>"What about Kei?" Suga asked thoughtfully. </p><p>"If we send him, we could send Ryuu too." Daichi rubbed his chin in thought. Ryuu could be a short fuse but Kei, weirdly, was a positive influence on him that way. Ryuu had once commented that he admired how Kei could be so intimidating while remaining so calm.</p><p>"So we send Asahi to keep it pleasant, and we send Kei and Ryuu so they don't try anything," Suga summarized. "It's not a bad plan."</p><p>"I'll let them know," Daichi said. And that was that.</p><p>- -</p><p>Asahi spent every night that week in bed with Noya. Perhaps more to the point was that Asahi spent the week <em> alone </em> in bed with Noya. Werewolves tended to be communal sleepers. Most nights, Asahi slept on his futon beside not just Noya but Ryuu and Shouyou too. Or sometimes he would fall into bed with Daichi because they had the two most stable sleep schedules in the house. Those nights he would usually drift off with his nose brushing Daichi's shoulder and Daichi's breathing ruffling his hair. He would wake up to Suga's face in his chest and Noya's chin on his shoulder. In the most literal sense of the word, <em> sleeping </em> together was not romantically charged for werewolves.</p><p>This was charged: Noya's thumb slipping into his mouth, Asahi's tongue against the pad. His body was covered in hickeys because Noya always had so much energy to burn in the week following the full moon. Asahi probably reeked of him. Daichi definitely reeked of Suga.</p><p>Noya's thumb slipped out from Asahi's teeth and he gently stroked it down Asahi's eyebrow. "Asahi," he breathed. Asahi wondered if anyone else even knew that Noya <em> could </em> sound reverent. </p><p>"Turn over for me?" Noya asked. Asahi nodded mutely and complied. </p><p>He had just settled comfortably again with his cheek resting on his forearms when he felt Noya brushing his hair off the back of his neck. Noya nosed the scent gland behind his ear, inhaling slow and powerful. A wave of heat rolled through Asahi's body. He felt a smile on his face.</p><p>"Yuu..." </p><p>"Last chance to tell me I can't, Asa-san." The way Noya was pressed to him, Asahi could feel it rumble against his back as well as in his ear. "'Cause I <em> want </em> to, but I don't <em> have </em>to."</p><p>Asahi's laugh ghosted in a breath across his forearm. "I was already planning to wear my hair down anyway." </p><p>Noya's claws made themselves known, a gentle bite against Asahi's sides. "Really?"</p><p>"Yeah, of course." Asahi's smile was fond. "I know you." <em> I know what you like to do to me. </em></p><p>He breathed in as Noya nuzzled against his hair. "You're the best." And he bit down on Asahi's neck. </p><p>The teeth marks were still an angry red by the time they made their way downstairs to where the others were assembling the nest in the living room. Tomorrow they would be a violent purple. Asahi doubted it would come up but the wolf in Noya felt better if the Aoba Johsai pack knew he was spoken for. And a large part of werewolf life was soothing the wolf.</p><p>In the living room, Ryuu and Tadashi were doing most of the arranging. Kei was standing off to the side, offering scathing commentary that made them cackle. </p><p>"My nephew can make a bed better than you can," he was saying as Kageyama tried and failed for the second time to flick the topsheet out over the futon. "And he's six."</p><p>"Don't listen to him, Kageyama," Ryuu said laughing. "I've met his nephew. Ren-chan's wise beyond his years."</p><p>"A gentleman," Noya agreed, letting himself down off Asahi's back.</p><p>"A scholar," Ryuu chimed. </p><p>"Does anyone know whose turn it is to pick the movie?" Asahi asked. He came to stand next to Kageyama and helped him make up his futon.</p><p>"Shouyou's," Ryuu said. "He's trying to find it."</p><p>"Got it!" Shouyou called and his footsteps began to pound down the stairs.</p><p>Asahi loved the nights where they all slept in the living room, shoved together in one big dogpile. He especially loved it tonight because tonight the purpose was scent marking him and Ryuu and Kei before their trip out tomorrow. As the pack settled, arranging all their snacks strategically on the coffee table, the three of them found themselves squished to the center. Noya sprawled over both his and Ryuu's laps, head pillowed on Asahi's thigh. Asahi linked his arm over Ryuu's shoulder. His other hand was in Noya's hair. He and Kei were pressed side-to-side and he could feel the heat of his packmate seeping into him. Tadashi was on Kei's other side, their ankles tangled together. Kageyama, Daichi, Suga, and Shouyou had somehow all squeezed onto the couch behind them. Daichi started the movie.</p><p>"...Is this a kung fu movie or a soccer movie?" Kei asked as the title screen flashed up.</p><p>"Yes," Ryuu and Noya said.</p><p>"Shut up, Stingyshima," Shouyou said without animosity. "It's awesome, okay?"</p><p>"'Awesome' is not an inherently positive word." </p><p>"Everyone be quiet," Daichi said. "It's starting."</p><p>The pack was more touchy than usual with them. Suga's fingers massaged at Asahi's scalp occasionally. When something dramatic happened, Shouyou would press his cheek into Asahi's hair and murmur, "It's getting intense, Asahi-san!" Hands similarly rubbed at Ryuu's buzz cut or brushed his shoulders. Kei, who disliked contact most of all (though Tadashi had said he had been far more stand-offish when he was still human) was tended to solely by Daichi, who sat up behind him, massaging the knots from his neck and shoulders.</p><p>When they eventually got to sleep, Asahi, Ryuu, and Kei all lay down first, letting the other members of the pack arrange themselves around them. Suga and Daichi slept to the outside of the pile, bracketing them. Kageyama made it tricky for a moment, seemingly reluctant to get involved, but evenly Suga said, "Lie however's comfortable, Kageyama." He ended up laying on his back next to Shouyou, who had curled into Asahi's side. Suga lay down on the other side of Kageyama, curled towards him, but not up against him, the only point of contact his arm as he lay it across Kageyama's stomach to hold Asahi's hand. </p><p>"Okay?" Suga asked him. </p><p>Kageyama appeared to consider the question intently. "Yeah," he said eventually. </p><p>And the pack settled in for the night.</p><p>The next morning Saeko came to visit them. "Good morrrrning, Karasuno!" she sang as Tadashi let her in the front door.</p><p>"Good morning nii-chan!" came the chorus of voices in response.</p><p>Saeko was wearing a shirt Noya had made for her, with one of his four word idioms.  It said <em> "Bad bitch, no muzzle."  </em>(At some point in his calligraphy hobby, he had graduated from ancient proverbs to casual slang.) Apparently she had explicitly requested the wording. "Hey Asahi!" she called, catching sight of him as she finished toeing off her shoes. "We match!"</p><p>Asahi gave her a soft smile, tucking some of his hair behind his ear. "We do," he agreed, glancing down his own Noya shirt. Noya had insisted he wear it for today, as an undershirt. It said <em> "Always bet on yourself."  </em></p><p>"Where's Ryuu?" Saeko scanned the room, hands on her hips.</p><p>"Hey sis." Ryuu appeared on the landing of the stairs, clearly in the wake of bath, rubbing a towel over his buzzcut.</p><p>"Would you like some food?" Asahi asked her as they made room for her at the table. </p><p>"Nah, I already—are those meat buns?"</p><p>"Help yourself." Asahi reached for the tray and brought it to her. </p><p>"Ryuu, come sit next to your big sister!" Saeko called before taking a bite. </p><p>Ryuu rolled his eyes but shoved himself into the same chair as Noya so that they were each supported by one thigh. Saeko immediately pressed her knee against his. </p><p>Of all of them, Ryuu was the only one who belonged to two packs. It was a pretty common situation for werewolves who were born as werewolves, instead of being turned. Ryuu belonged to the Karasuno pack and he belonged to the Tanakas. And since getting scent marked properly was something akin to getting dressed properly, Saeko had come to mark her brother on behalf of the rest of the family. </p><p>"Nii-chan!" Ryuu groaned as she got him in a headlock and rubbed her knuckles over his head.</p><p>As they finished up breakfast, Suga drew Asahi to the side. </p><p>"Feeling okay?" he asked. </p><p>Asahi drew a breath and nodded. </p><p>"Remember." Suga placed his hands on Asahi's shoulders. "No matter what Oikawa says to you, all I need you to do is be honest with him."</p><p>Asahi's eyebrows went up. He didn't follow the logic of that sentence, not exactly. He didn't have an intuitive understanding of people like Suga did. However there had been times where his life literally depended on Suga's ability to read people so when he said things like this, Asahi listened.</p><p>"I will," he promised.</p><p>Suga smiled, and his  hands slid to the back of Asahi's head, carefully not touching the mate mark Noya had left on his neck. Tugging, he made Asahi lower himself and Suga kissed his forehead. When they pulled back again, Asahi made sure to smile with sharpened teeth.</p><p>Game time. </p><p>The drive out to the Aoba Johsai pack home would take an hour each way. The pack had two vehicles, a full-sized van, and a work truck. Suga had some fancy education department thing today and he absolutely couldn't show up in the truck. Unfortunately, that meant the three of them were going to spend the entire two hours in the truck's tiny cab, smushing shoulders. </p><p>"Sure," Kei muttered as he pulled the cab door closed. He had some difficulty. "Send the three biggest people. Put them in the smaller vehicle. Inspired." His right shoulder was hunched from making contact with Ryuu. Asahi's left shoulder was the same. Ryuu's were up by his ears.</p><p>"Isn't Kageyama bigger?" Asahi asked as he slipped the keys into the ignition.</p><p>"I'm thicker," Ryuu said. Then he paused. "I think." Then, "We'll check when we get back." He grinned at his own words.</p><p>"Two double entendres," Kei commented. "Well done." </p><p>"I don't know what that means," Ryuu complained.</p><p>"It's French. It means, '<em>that's what she said.</em>'"</p><p>Asahi shook his head tolerantly and worked his seatbelt on.</p><p>Kei and Ryuu spent the first fifteen minutes bickering about the radio station. Kei wanted the national public radio because there was a special happening about archeology, which Ryuu insisted was boring enough to literally be lethal.</p><p>"I can actually feel my brain cells dying when we listen to that shit," he said. Asahi was resolutely staying out of this. "Like, they talk slower than I have ever done anything in my life. They sound so <em> bored.</em>"</p><p>"It's <em> diction.</em>" Kei looked somehow completely detached from this conversation and also deeply offended by it. "It's <em> enunciation.</em>"</p><p>"It's <em> boring!</em>"</p><p>Kei sighed. "Fine. But don't speak to me until we get there." With that, he pulled his headphones on over his head. Asahi felt certain he would be listening to the special on his phone while Ryuu controlled the radio.</p><p>Ryuu was chatty in a comfortable and familiar way. He was also equipped with a seemingly endless number of road trip games.</p><p>"Matsuzaka Daisuke," Asahi suggested on his turn. </p><p>"Who's that?"</p><p>"A baseball player." </p><p>"Oh. Good one." Ryuu frowned at the road in front of him, thinking. He had tried to put his feet up on the dash at one point but his knee had almost poked Asahi in the face. "Arakida Yuko."</p><p>Asahi repeated the name to himself. "Why does that sound familiar?"</p><p>"She's the head of one of the Olympic councils. And she has a gold medal."</p><p>"Volleyball?"</p><p>"You know it."</p><p>"Is it too easy if we pick famous athletes?" Asahi wondered. "I mean, they make good main characters anyway."</p><p>"But that's half the fun," Ryuu insisted. "You know who probably would be a main character but doesn't have a good name for it?"</p><p>"Who?"</p><p>"Thomas Mueller."</p><p>"The German soccer player?"</p><p>"Yeah. That dude is a machine. Too bad he's got a boring name." Ryuu scrubbed at his hair. "You know, he kinda looks like Kei."</p><p>At the sound of his name, Kei pulled one side of his headphones off. "What?"</p><p>"You look like Thomas Mueller," Ryuu told him.</p><p>Kei frowned at him. "<em> Who? </em>"</p><p>"Soccer player."</p><p>"Kei's probably taller right?" Asahi said thoughtfully. "Soccer players aren't usually very tall."</p><p>"I just always assume Kei's gonna be taller than any motherfucker you could name," Ryuu said.</p><p>"As if the entire American NBA doesn't exist," Kei deadpanned. </p><p>"You think he's gonna be taller than the Aoba Johsai guys?" Ryuu's thought process could jump around sometimes.</p><p>"I guess we'll see when we get there?" Asahi offered.</p><p>"He'll be colder for sure."</p><p>"My best feature," Kei's deadpan continued. </p><p>"Our favorite ice lord." Ryuu nudged him affectionately. The fact that their shoulders were already wedged together meant he was shoving Kei against the door. Kei sighed. </p><p>"Hey," Ryuu said after a minute. "Why do you think Kageyama and these guys didn't work out?"</p><p>Asahi paused, turning over how to reply. Kei beat him to it.</p><p>"Ego, probably." He slipped his headphones down onto his neck and readjusted his glasses. "Everything Kageyama does reads as a challenge. Even when he doesn't mean it to be."</p><p>"True," Ryuu hummed. "But like, we all <em> know </em> he doesn't mean it. When he means it, he's super obvious about it you know? And it's not like he'd ever challenge someone to be pack leader. Not on purpose."</p><p>"Maybe he did." Kei was looking straight ahead, watching the road almost idly. "Who knows?"</p><p>"Well," Asahi said finally. "We might find out."</p><p>The Aoba Johsai pack home was bigger than the Karasuno one. Asahi wondered if the pack was larger too. Probably. They were definitely better connected. Based on what Ukai said, they had a lot of born werewolves and that usually came with lots of connections. Karasuno just had Ryuu and the Tanakas.</p><p>They probably looked a little comedic, three big men tumbling out of the tiny truck cab onto the driveway. Kei was muttering darkly about whatever the hell Ryuu had eaten before they came. Asahi took a moment to smooth his clothes down with his hands. His heart warmed as he remembered his Noya shirt under his button up. <em> Always bet on yourself. </em></p><p>Then he was walking towards the front door.</p><p>As he rang the doorbell, Ryuu and Kei positioned themselves behind him, framing his shoulders. The door opened and a serious-looking man was standing there. He had the same wild eyes as Ryuu and Saeko, and Asahi would put good money on him being one of the born werewolves. </p><p>"Azumane?" he asked. Asahi instantly recognized his voice from the phone. </p><p>Asahi smiled politely. "Yes. Are you Iwaizumi-san?" </p><p>"Yeah." Iwaizumi's eyes slid over Ryuu and Kei before he said, "Come on in."</p><p>"Pardon the intrusion," the three of them said as they stepped through the door. </p><p>As Asahi took off his boots, he saw another man standing in the living room doorway, just over Iwaizumi's shoulder. The thought came before Asahi could stop it that he was sort of boring-looking. Or generic somehow. Then Asahi's brain caught up and he chided himself for being uncharitable.</p><p>The generic-looking man caught him staring and smiled. "Azumane-chan! I'm Oikawa Tooru. Welcome to our home." </p><p><em>Ah, the pack leader.</em> "Thank you," Asahi said, stepping in out of the entryway. "This is Tanaka and Tsukishima, two of our other pack members." He bowed and trusted his packmates to bow with him. "It's nice to meet you."</p><p>"Nice to meet you," Ryuu and Kei echoed.</p><p>"You want some tea?" Iwaizumi asked, stepping towards the kitchen. "Anyone need to use our bathroom?"</p><p>"I need the bathroom," Ryuu piped up.</p><p>"Down the hall, second door on the right," Iwaizumi told him.</p><p>"Tea would be great," Asahi said, feeling a sincere smile come over his face. Despite his anxiety over politics and this unknown pack, he felt steady. It was a trained response, one he'd learned from playing sports in high school. Right now, he was representing his team. He knew what to do.</p><p>"Please come sit down," Oikawa said, leading them into the living room. The two Karasuno wolves arranged themselves around the low coffee table across from him, Asahi making sure to leave room for Ryuu whenever he got back.</p><p>"Now," Oikawa continued as Iwaizumi brought in a pot of tea from the kitchen. "How is Tobio-chan doing? We don't hear from him anymore."</p><p><em> Did you used to hear from him? </em> Asahi wondered. Still, he took the time to consider the question. How <em> was </em>Kageyama doing? Kageyama was still awkward and stiff, yes, but he was learning. He had some kind of benign animosity with Shouyou and he always seemed interested in whatever he and Ryuu and Noya were up to. He was eager to learn. He was an amazing hunter. Even if he and Kei hadn't found the common ground yet, Asahi decided that really, anything he could say about Kageyama was ultimately positive.</p><p>"He's doing really well," Asahi reported happily, meeting Oikawa's eyes. He caught the faintest whiff of surprise from the Aoba Johsai pack leader, one that most other wolves probably couldn't have smelled. Asahi wondered at it. </p><p>Oikawa recovered and a beatific smile settled onto his face. "Have you broken him of his backtalk then? I didn't think anyone would be able to do that." He said this with the same pleasant tone with which he might discuss the weather.</p><p>Ryuu took this moment to walk back into the living room, and Asahi watched him do a double-take. They made eye contact and Asahi recognized the irritation flashing there.</p><p><em> Ryuu, </em>Asahi thought, watching him. Daichi would have been disappointed if Ryuu lost his cool.</p><p>Ryuu's jaw tightened. <em> Fine. </em>Still, as he folded himself down to sit on Asahi's left, it felt more to Asahi that he was coiling like a spring. </p><p>"Thanks for the tea," he muttered, and to Asahi's relief he sounded more like his informal self rather than someone on the defensive.</p><p>Asahi took a sip of said tea and focused on answering. He didn't much like it either. Oikawa's comment felt loaded. But Suga's words rang in his head—<em>all you have to do is tell him the truth</em>. So Asahi reached for the truth.</p><p>"Kageyama is very direct," he said. He spoke slowly, thinking as he went. "But you always know exactly where you stand with him. I think... I think that kind of honesty is valuable." It was certainly something he valued about Noya, about Daichi and Ryuu and Shouyou and even Kei. It was a powerful counter to his anxiety to be surrounded with good people who always said exactly what they meant.</p><p>Oikawa's own smile widened. "Oh?" he said. "'<em>Kageyama?' </em>Tobio-chan doesn't let you call him Tobio-chan?"</p><p>Was there a rule with the Aoba Johsai wolves that everyone had to be on a given name basis? That would make them very different than Karasuno. Kei hadn't let them call him anything other than "Tsukishima" for an entire <em>year.</em></p><p>"Oh, he doesn't want to be called Tobio," Asahi explained. He wondered if he ought to offer some kind of assurance, to let Oikawa know that it didn't offend them. He gave Oikawa a smile. "But it isn't hard for us to respect his wishes. That's just what any decent person would do isn't it?" </p><p>Oikawa <em>stared</em>. Asahi blinked, confused. Beside him, Kei had started to smell incredibly smug. </p><p>Iwaizumi barked a laugh. "He's got you there, Trashykawa," he said, rising to his feet. "We got Kageyama's stuff all ready. I'll see if they're done bringing it down." </p><p>"Good idea, Iwa-chan!" Oikawa enthused, seeming to have recovered from... whatever had just happened. He turned back to his guests.</p><p>"There's something else I've been wondering," he continued, lifting his tea cup. "Were you aware of my suggestion to Ukai-san that Kageyama would be better off as a lone wolf?" </p><p>"I was," Asahi said. He was getting into a rhythm now. Focus on the back and forth, find the clearest thought in his mind and express it. Like Suga wanted.</p><p>"Have you given any thought to it?"</p><p>Lone wolves were rare but not unheard of. Some of them did quite well for themselves. Still—"If Kageyama wanted to be a lone wolf wouldn't he have left us already?" Asahi pointed out reasonably. "I think he stays with us because he wants to be with us."</p><p>"You <em> think?" </em>Oikawa repeated.</p><p>Asahi knew that Oikawa had some ulterior motive, that he wasn't trying to be nice but in his mind at that moment, the clearest thought was that Oikawa sounded like Noya. Noya was always encouraging him to say things like he meant them. Asahi focused on that. Squaring his shoulders, he gave Oikawa direct eye contact. "Oikawa-san," he said, firmly this time. "Kageyama stays with us because he wants to stay with us."</p><p>Kei's smug smell persisted.  </p><p>Oikawa's expression moved not an inch. "As you say, Azumane-chan." He leaned forward with serpentine grace and propped his chin in his hand. "So," he said. "Tell me about yourselves. What do you all do for work? Are any of you married? I see Azumane-chan is taken."</p><p>"Ah yes." Asahi lifted his hand to the mate mark under his ear. "Three years," he said fondly. </p><p>"How nice for you," Oikawa said smoothly. </p><p>"I'm a personal trainer," Ryuu said.</p><p>"Ah, just like Iwa-chan!" Oikawa's smile reanimated. "I bet the two of you would have a lot to talk about. What flavors of protein powder are in right now and such."</p><p>"You don't need protein powder Oikawa," came that rumbly voice from the doorway. "You need a better diet."</p><p>"Supplements don't replace a hearty appetite, that's what I always say!" Ryuu agreed. Oikawa huffed childishly.</p><p>Iwaizumi grunted. "Anyway we've got all his stuff, we can start loading your truck whenever you're ready."</p><p>"Oh, let's do that now then!" Asahi rose to his feet. Ryuu and Kei got up too. </p><p>"I need the restroom too," Kei said.</p><p>"You're just trying to get out of doing any lifting, pretty boy," Ryuu snorted. "I know your tricks."</p><p>"<em>I'm </em> not the personal trainer," Kei deflected, slipping elegantly down the hallway. </p><p>Asahi caught Iwaizumi's eye. The long-suffering expression on the other man's face almost made him laugh. "I can take a bag," he said, reaching for the pile of Kageyama's things. </p><p>Iwaizumi already had a box under each arm. "Sure."</p><p>It only took one trip to get everything loaded in the back of the truck. Asahi and Ryuu were finished strapping everything down when Kei returned from the bathroom. Once he was satisfied that it was all tucked away, Asahi turned back to Iwaizumi. They looked each other over. Oikawa was standing in the open doorway of the house.</p><p>"Well, thank you for everything," Asahi said, starting to bow.</p><p>"Azumane," Iwaizumi said.</p><p>Asahi straightened back up, startled. </p><p>"You guys did us a favor by taking Kageyama in. I didn't get along with him either but it's not like I have it in for the guy." Iwaizumi was making incredibly direct eye contact. "So it's only fair to say I owe you one. Call it in whenever." </p><p>"Oh." He was probably more surprised by this than he should have been. Of course it followed that the Aoba Johsai pack owed them a favor, but if Oikawa disliked Kageyama as much as he seemed to, Asahi would have been willing to bet that Karasuno would have never been able to call that favor in. He considered Iwaizumi's wording. <em> "I," </em> he'd said. Not <em> "we." </em> </p><p>Asahi's eyes flickered over to where Oikawa stood in the doorway before looking back at Iwaizumi, gaze level. </p><p>"I understand," Asahi said. "I'll pass that along."</p><p>And then he got into the driver's side and shut the door.</p><p>"Well, that was interesting," Kei said as they drove down the driveway.</p><p>Asahi heaved a long breath out. "Y-yeah..."</p><p>"What were <em> you </em>so goddamn smug about in there?" Ryuu asked. His feet were up on the dash again, too irritated to even attempt to sit properly. Asahi held the top of the steering wheel one-handed and allowed it.</p><p>"What Suga-san said," Kei explained. "Oikawa plays mind games. Oikawa was trying to trick Asahi-san into saying something mean about Kageyama and he couldn't. Why? Because Asahi-san understands mind games?" He smiled to himself. Asahi was glad, not for the first time, that Kei was on <em> their </em> side. "No. When it comes to His Royal Pain in the Ass, Asahi-san is quite literally the only person in the pack who has <em> nothing bad </em> <em>to say</em>."</p><p>Asahi wanted to protest this, wanted to ask, <em> Why</em> <em> would</em> <em> I say anything bad about Kageyama, he's trying his best, </em> but maybe that was the point. Maybe that was what Suga had had in mind all along.</p><p>"God," Ryuu growled. "He <em> was </em> trying to play mind games wasn't he? What a douche."</p><p>"I felt like I was being challenged," Asahi admitted. "But I didn't know what he wanted from me."</p><p>"When you said that any decent person would respect what Kageyama wanted to be called, he thought you were trying to insult him." Kei was wearing a shit-eating smirk. "And then he realized you said it because you are simply <em> nice</em>." He sighed with contentment.</p><p>"I fucking hated that." Ryuu's voice was still a growl. "Fucking 'Tobio-chan!' this, 'Tobio-chan!' that. It's like, hey, maybe Kageyama never did what you wanted because you were always calling him shit he didn't want to be called, ever think of <em> that?" </em></p><p>Asahi's hand gripped the steering wheel tighter. The feeling that he'd somehow dodged a bullet was beginning to catch up to him. He had never been more glad that Kageyama lived with them now. "He said something about backtalk didn't he? Do you think that's why no one taught Kageyama how packs work? He talked back too much?"</p><p>"What a stupid reason," Ryuu muttered darkly. "Yeah, I fucking <em> bet </em> you all think he should be a lone wolf, you never fucking taught him how to be anything else."</p><p>An angry silence settled over the inside of the truck.</p><p>"You know." Kei made a low, thoughtful hum. "Oikawa...has hair like Noya's mom."</p><p>Asahi and Ryuu's eyes snapped to his face. </p><p>"Mother of God," Ryuu breathed. "He <em> does.</em>" </p><p>There was a pause before he and Asahi broke into laughter. Kei made a sound that was almost a purr, pleased to have landed such a devastating blow. </p><p>"Oh my <em> GOD, </em>" Ryuu continued. "I was trying to figure out who he looked like! He's totally Noya's mom! Hey, do you think he drives a minivan?" </p><p>Kei smirked. "Do you think he always asks to speak to a manager?"</p><p>"Do you think he makes waiters cry?"</p><p>"Do you think he always leaves a 5 yen tip?"</p><p>"Oh my God, what if he sleeps with hair curlers in?!" Ryuu's excitement shook the windows of their car.</p><p>Asahi's laughter was almost a gasp: <em> "Aunt Oikawa."</em></p><p>Ryuu <em> cackled</em>. Even Kei hid a laugh behind his hand. </p><p>"Aunt Oikawa!" Ryuu smacked his hand on the dashboard repeatedly. "Holy shit, I bet he doesn't know how to text."</p><p>"I assume all his neighbors hate him."</p><p>"I bet his still thinks flossing is cool."</p><p>"Do you... not floss?" Asahi asked, cocking his head.</p><p>"Asahi-san." Ryuu's grin was shark-like. "Do you know what flossing is?"</p><p>"I long to not know what flossing is," Kei sighed.</p><p>"The thing you do with your teeth?" Asahi tried. </p><p>"It's a dance," Ryuu told him. "I'll show you later."</p><p>"Okay," Asahi agreed. A pang of hunger in his stomach diverted his attention. "What do you two want for lunch? I'll pay."</p><p>An hour and a half later, they were tumbling out of the truck again, this time in the driveway of the Karasuno pack house, empty McDonalds bags clutched in their hands. </p><p>"You're baaaack!" Shouyou sang out, running up the street. Kageyama was hot on his heels. Noya and Tadashi were behind them and Daichi was bringing up the rear. It looked like they had just come from the park. </p><p>Asahi would have thought Shouyou and Kageyama would slow down once they started getting closer but they didn't. If anything they poured out the speed, until each of them flailed out a hand, slamming to a stop against the truck tailgate. Asahi winced. That felt like it was going to be bruised ribs for both of them in the morning.</p><p>"I win!" Shouyou shouted.</p><p>"No you didn't!" </p><p>"Who won?" Shouyou demanded, turning to the three of them expectantly.</p><p>"Looked like a draw to me kiddo," Ryuu said.</p><p>"Me too," Asahi agreed honestly. </p><p>"How was it?" Daichi asked, as the rest of them caught up. Suga was probably still at his department thing.</p><p>"It was okay," Asahi tried.</p><p>"It could have been worse," Ryuu agreed, from where he was untying Kageyama's things from the flatbed. "Though dude, I gotta be real with you—Oikawa pisses me off."</p><p>Surprise flickered over Kageyama's face. Then his usual aggression returned. "Yeah."</p><p>"You are <em> way </em>better off without him."</p><p>"That good huh?" Daichi murmured, looking at Asahi.</p><p>Lifting a box out of the truck, Asahi shrugged. "He didn't make a great impression," he said, and turned. "Kageyama? I'm glad you live here now."</p><p>Kageyama blinked, his face soft with surprise. "Oh. Uh. Yeah," he repeated.</p><p>Daichi took a box into his own arms. "Guess that makes you stuck with us." His shoulder knocked against Kageyama's as they walked. "Come on. Let's get this inside."</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>1. Saeko's shirt is a reference to a Nicki Minaj song.<br/>2. There will be a short epilogue after this. :)<br/>Comments and kudos are &lt;3</p>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Epilogue: Settled</h2></a>
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    <p>After that it was like a held breath had finally been exhaled. They could finally settle Kageyama into the pack for real.</p><p>Plus, they had a favor to call in from the Aoba Johsai second. Daichi noted this fact down in his planner, if only because he didn't know what else to do with it. They had owed and been owed favors to other packs before. They had gone back and forth on it with the Nekoma pack a few times before he and Kuroo had finally made their alliance official. They were allied with Ukai's pack, and of course the Tanakas were family. But it was a new thing to be owed one favor, from one wolf in one distant pack. It was made even more foreign by the fact that half his own wolves were on the verge of having Oikawa declared persona non-grata.</p><p><em> Still, </em> Daichi supposed, staring down at the note he'd made. <em> You never know what could come in handy. </em></p><p>"Tell the truth, Beard-kun," Suga teased as they all debriefed. "Was Oikawa better looking than me?"</p><p>Asahi looked surprised by the question. And then embarrassed. "Ah, no," he admitted. "Not really, no." </p><p>Suga smelled surprised at Asahi's clear honesty. Then he smiled. "Sweet talker." Propping his chin in his hand, he batted his eyelashes just to make Asahi flustered. Asahi scrunched his nose at him, cheeks pink.</p><p>Daichi wasn't too surprised at Asahi's preference. He'd seen pictures of Oikawa. Asahi's taste in men ran in the more classically masculine direction in general and towards the proverbial bad-boy-with-a-heart-of-gold in particular. And no one, but <em> no one</em>, was attractive to Asahi if he didn't think they were kind.</p><p>Then there were the other two members of the Anti-Oikawa Club. Ryuu, while straight, would declare any man attractive as long as they were friends and at this point, he basically considered Oikawa a hostile. Kei was just impossible to impress aesthetically, though if there were a gun to his head, he might have mentioned something about freckles. Add all this together and Oikawa Tooru's appearance as far as Karasuno was concerned, sat at a dismal 4 out of 10. </p><p>Daichi made a mental note to share this thought with Suga later. He'd get a kick out of it. </p><p>For the moment though, he moved onto the next item of the meeting; employment. </p><p>"What've you got for us, Noya?" Daichi asked. The entire pack was squeezed into the kitchen. He was pleased to see that Shouyou and Ryuu had shoved in so that they were sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with Kageyama, and that Kageyama was allowing it calmly.</p><p>Noya grinned and pulled something out of his back pocket. It appeared to be a business card. "Heard back earlier today. There's definitely room for them to learn if you wanna give us the okay, Dai-san."</p><p>Noya was a finder. Suga had described it to someone once as a magical shopping service and Daichi thought the comparison worked. People put in their orders and Noya went out and the items they wanted. The difference was of course, that those items were usually magical in nature and sometimes filling orders meant Noya had to go on hazardous excursions that could last days at a time. They could involve anything from mountain climbing to trekking through the woods to fishing for black marlin. It also made his income less stable than everyone else in the house, and he could be away for longer periods of time. But he was very good at it and the pack was proud of him. </p><p>Solitude however, wasn't good for a werewolf. Noya was the kind of personality that could make friends anywhere but casual friends did not replace the pack. That was why it was such a relief that both Shouyou and Kageyama had expressed interest in becoming finders as well. Karasuno's senior wolves would all sleep better if Noya wasn't working alone. </p><p>Daichi examined the business card Noya passed him. <em>Takeda Ittetsu</em> it said. <em> Publisher of "Modern Magician Monthly." Accredited Expert of Arcane Knowledge</em>. "This is your guy?" he asked Noya, just for clarification. </p><p>"Yup! Worked with him a few times. He used to be a finder too. He knows all sorts of stuff." </p><p>"Accreditation has changed since you started right?" </p><p>"Yeah, but old hands like me get grandfathered in." Noya was probably bouncing his leg under the table. Daichi recognized the accompanying posture. "Whaddya think, Kageyama?" he continued. "Beats hanging around here all day right?"</p><p>"We can study together!" Shouyou nudged him, a completely unnecessary motion considering he was already wedged up against Kageyama's side. "You can call me 'sensei.'"</p><p>"Why the hell would I call you sensei?" But when Kageyama frowned it was without any real venom. </p><p>Shouyou graced him with his cheekiest grin. "Because I have a head start on you. Duh."</p><p>"You're talking a big game for someone who hasn't even passed the practice test yet," Noya said with a laugh.</p><p>"Yuu," Asahi warned, a gentle frown on his face. "A lot of people fail the practice exam the first time," he assured Shouyou.</p><p>"Noya-san would know," Kei interjected smoothly. "I helped him study." Noya just flipped him off with a wicked grin.</p><p>"Alright, Noya can I trust you to set up a meeting with Takeda for these two?" Daichi said, intervening before they could get too far off track. </p><p>"Sure thing, boss-san." </p><p>"Great. Now, next order of business, we have a repairman coming sometime next week..."</p><p>Getting Kageyama employed along with Noya and Shouyou would cement his status in their pack long term. The thought was a comfort to all of them, including apparently, Kageyama himself. Daichi got to watch him throw himself into the learning of the supernatural world in the days that followed. Tension that he hadn't even realized had been there was gone from Kageyama's posture. And on the following Tuesday, they got to enjoy a minor miracle.</p><p>Daichi was exhausted that day. He was bitten and scratched up from work (he was a behavioral interventionist for newly magical beings). While he accepted it as part of the job, it didn't make it less draining. Upon coming home, he had stripped down to his undershirt and faded boxer briefs, and, flopping facedown on his bed, passed the fuck out.</p><p>He didn't wake up at the sound of someone entering his room. He didn't wake at their weight shifting on the bed. He only began to stir at the feeling of familiar hands running up and down his back, soothing and innocent. Then, they found his ass and began to knead.</p><p>If he was less exhausted, he might have muttered, <em> "Koushi, that had better be you," </em>even though he knew it was. Drifting back into consciousness, he could smell Suga clearly. Tired and wrung out, he only managed a rumble in his chest, hoping it sounded content. </p><p>Suga's hands paused their rhythm and he leaned forward to press himself against Daichi's back. "Hello, father of our children." He mouthed a kiss to the side of Daichi's head.</p><p>A groan crawled up Daichi's throat. <em> Oh no. </em> </p><p>Shifting, Suga leaned over to his other ear. "Hello, head of this household." He planted a kiss there too.</p><p>"Oh no," Daichi ground into the pillow. He didn't even lift his head to speak, just let it come out the side of his mouth. Suga only called him these things when something bad had happened. Something that meant Daichi was going to have to call the insurance company.</p><p>Suga's face pressed itself to the back of his neck and nuzzled. "Hello, baby daddy—oop." His tone was infuriatingly innocent and he moved with impossible grace as Daichi rolled, lifting himself easily and then settling again so his chest was pressed to Daichi's stomach.</p><p>"What happened?" Daichi implored the ceiling, hand carding through Suga's hair. </p><p>"It's Kei and Kageyama."</p><p><em> Fuck. </em> "What did they do?"</p><p>"They appear to be...napping together."</p><p>Daichi's eyes widened. His head snapped up to meet Suga's gaze. "You're kidding me."</p><p>Suga's smile lit the entire room. "You've gotta see it."</p><p>They crept down the stairs like kids on Christmas morning. Daichi had to resist the urge to plaster himself against the wall. As it was, he was almost holding his breath as he poked his head in to the entrance to the downstairs bedroom, the one that usually held Kei and Tadashi. </p><p>Tadashi was missing today, probably on his way home from work. Kei and Kageyama were sprawled across Tadashi's messy futon. Kei slept on his back, fingers laced on his stomach. The book he'd been reading had slumped open on his chest. Kageyama was on his back too, limbs lying in a gentle sprawl, head turned the slightest bit in Kei's direction, breathing softly through his mouth. </p><p>It wasn't cuddling. They weren't even touching. But still, Daichi felt a warmth spread through his chest. He'd never seen Kei and Kageyama exist together so...peaceably before.</p><p>"I'm guessing you took a picture already?" he murmured, looking back towards where Suga was safely hidden in the hallway behind him. </p><p>"Of course I did." Suga smirked. </p><p>"Well," Daichi murmured, once he'd looked his fill. "They've definitely got the right idea." He stifled a yawn. Satisfied that everything was at peace for the moment, with Suga on his heels, he went back up stairs to finish his nap.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thanks for reading!<br/>Comments and kudos are appreciated!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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